Tigers Weekly 2005 Season

Week 26: 9/28/05 - 10/2/05

"I thought we responded to everything well except for
this last month.  I think, looking back, it is fair to
say that we hit a wall."
 
- Alan Trammell, Ex-Manager

2005 is finally over and the Tigers went out with a whimper, and not a roar. With the poor finish (the Tigers were 10-29 in their last 39 games) came the firing of three-year manager Alan Trammell. The announcement came on Monday, less than twenty-four hours after the Tigers 6-4 loss to the Twins in Minneapolis. In a way it was fitting that Trammell ended his Tigers coaching tenure with a sweep at the hands of the Twins. Minnesota has dominated Trammell the manager and back in the day they knocked the Tigers out of their last playoffs (four games to one in 1987). Jim Leyland (former Pirates and Marlins manager) has already been contacted by the Tigers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2179572

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"Week" of 9/28 - 10/2
 
Record: 0-5   LLLLL
 
Undy-Five-Hundy:  Unbelievable.  The Tigers managed to
finish with a worse record this year than last year. 
They did this by losing the last five games of their
season.  Detroit finishes with a record of 71-91 for
an UFH mark of 20.  It should have been a much better
mark than this, but a September collapse ensured
another mediocre season in D-Town.  
 
Up next for the Tigers...
 
Find a new manager, sign some free agents.  
 
AL Central Standings...

CWS  99 63  -
CLE  93 69  6
MIN  83 79  16
DET  71 91  28
KCR  56 106 43 

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Tiger of the Year...
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It is with great reluctance that I am giving this
award at all.  No player on the team had a real
standout season.  Some of the players, like Chris
Shelton or Brandon Inge, burned brightly for short
periods of time.  Others such as Placido Polanco, Kyle
Farnsworth, and Magglio Ordonez played great in their
times as Tigers, but each logged only about half a
season with the club.  The four main starters were
equally mediocre with ERAs ranging from 4.41 to 4.74. 
I really wouldn't feel comfortable giving the award to
a middle reliever or a setup man.  

The Tiger of the Year for 2005 is Craig Monroe. This year Monroe led the team in RBIs with 82 and was one behind Dmitri Young (21) for the team lead in homers. Craig hit an unexciting .277 but played in 157 of the Tigers' 162 games. In a season where injuries put a serious hurt on the Tigers, Monroe was a steady force at the plate and in the outfield. He has a great arm and showcased that in the last home game of the season by picking up an outfield assist.

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Tigers 2005 Leaders...
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Batting...
 
At-Bats:  Inge - 612
Runs:  Inge - 75
RBIs:  Monroe - 89
Hits:  Inge - 161
Doubles:  Rodriguez - 33
Triples:  Inge - 9
Home Runs:  Young - 21
Stolen Bases:  Logan - 23
Walks:  Inge - 63
Strikeouts:  Inge - 138
 
The following stats require at least 100 at-bats.
AVG:  Polanco - .338  
OBP:  Polanco - .386  
SLG:  Shelton - .503
OPS:  Shelton - .861
BB/K Ratio:  Polanco - 1.31
 
Pitching...

Innings:  Johnson - 210
Starts:  Maroth - 34
Wins:  Maroth/Bonderman - 14
Losses:  Robertson - 15
ERA (starters): Robertson 4.48
ERA (relievers): Farnsworth 2.32
Strikeouts:  Bonderman 145
Walks:  Robertson 65
Saves:  Rodney - 9
Holds:  Farnsworth - 15

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Playoff Preview...
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The Cleveland Indians totally collapsed down the
stretch.  At the All-Star break it looked like the
Tribe had a pretty nice chance.  Their scheudle was
loaded with Seattle, Kansas City, and Tampa Bay.  Down
the stretch they played a set at KC and then three
games at home against the D-Rays.  They were only able
to go 4-3 over these seven games.  Still, the Indians
controlled their own destiny.  They were tied with the
Red Sox for the Wild Card and were only a game back of
the Yankees.  That meant that a sweep of the White Sox
would guarantee that the Tribe would win the Wild
Card.  Unfortunately for Cleveland, the White Sox won
all three games with their B-squad.  Boston won two of
three, thus the Yankees and Red Sox will again be in
the post-season and the Indians will have all winter
to think about it.  
 
In the National League, the Phillies tried to make up
a two-game deficit in the final weekend.  They managed
to sweep the Nationals, but the Astros beat the Cubs
on the last day of the season to win the National
League Wild Card by one game.  
 
First Round Matchups...
 
Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox
 
I've gotta go with the Sox in this series.  It's
pretty obvious that they'll come out on top.  In fact,
if the Sox don't win this series I'll shave my head...
Not a very bold prediction, I know.  Seriously, I
like the Red Sox in this series.  The reason?  They
can HIT.  The White Sox cannot.  If the Red Sox put up
five runs in a game then the White Sox will not be
able to compete.  To win this series, Chicago is going
to need outstanding pitching against the best-hitting
team in baseball.  Boston hits .280 as a team and
Chicago a mere .263.  ERA is the exact opposite, with
the White Sox sporting a 3.63 team ERA to Boston's
4.76.  The combination of the soon-to-be AL MVP David
Ortiz and Manny Ramirez will cause fits for Chi-Town
and Boston should wrap this one up in three or four
games.  The season series was 4-3 in favor of Boston,
and the Red Sox averaged over five runs scored per
game... but so did Chicago.  A high-scoring series
favors Boston.
 
New York Yankees vs. Anaheim Angels
 
The Angels and Yankees enter this series with
identical records.  The Angels won the season series
6-4 so they will have home-field advantage in this
series.  The Yankees are difficult to predict, though
they have been hot down the stretch.  They overcame a
four-game deficit in September to win the AL East (by
a tie-breaker) and have won 16 of their last 21 games.
The Angels have looked good in pressure games, as
they soundly ended Oakland's hopes by winning 12 of
their last 14 and winning 3 of 4 at Oakland.  The
Yankees have struggled with their pitching all season
but, like the Red Sox, they have the offense to make
up for it.  The Angels bring possible Cy Young winner
Bartolo Colon to the table in hopes of knocking off
the Bronx Bombers.  Colon has had a fine season, but
he can be quite hittable at times.  We witnessed the
Tigers putting a hurt on Colon just this month.  The
Yankees lineup is much more fearsome than Detroit's. 
Unfortunately I think we're headed for another AL East
showdown in the LCS.  Look for the Yankees to win in
five.
 
San Diego Padres vs. St Louis Cardinals...
 
Last season the pride of the NL Cardinals drew the LA
Dodgers in the first round.  Save a great pitching
performance by Jose Lima in Game 3, the Cards had
little trouble disposing of the NL West champions. 
This year an even less fearsome opponent stands in the
way of the Cardinals.  St. Louis is the easy choice to
pick to win the National League and it's because they
have the pitching and the hitting to get the job done.
Chris Carpenter, Jeff Suppan, Matt Morris, and Mark
Mulder all sport ERAs under 4 (Carpenter's is 2.83). 
The Padres can counter with a decent staff of their
own.  Too bad for the Padres that their offense is
competitive with only the White Sox.  The Padres hit
.257 as a team (the '03 Tigers hit .240 as a team). 
The Cards hit .269 and are the majors' only 100 win
team.  The Padres finished two games over .500.  If
the Padres win this series it would be the biggest
upset ever.  I would be surprised if it gets to five
games.
 
Houston Astros vs. Atlanta Braves
 
We'll see a rematch of the 2004 NLDS as the Astros,
again, have won the Wild Card and the Braves, as
always, claimed the NL East.  Last year it was a real
fight as the Astros won in five games.  The 'stros
fought back from a brutal 15-30 start to make the
post-season once again.  They will throw the
three-headed monster of Clemens-Pettitte-Oswalt and
the Braves will try to match up with
Smoltz-Hudson-Sosa (or Haracio Ramirez, though Sosa
has been great this season).  Houston actually hits
worse than the Padres, so Atlanta has the edge as far
as hitting goes.  The Braves are a win-factory in the
regular season, though they seem to struggle in the
playoffs.  However, I like the mix of rookies and
veterans in this Atlanta squad and I'll go out and say
that the Braves win in five games.  
 
Quickly, I'll say it will be the Yankees losing to the
Cardinals in the World Series.  
 
I am pulling for the Angels and then the White Sox in
the AL, and I don't care who wins the NL.  I will root
for the winner of the NL no matter what.

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Winner of Pre-Season Picks...
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Using the point system I devised last time, the winner
of the pre-season picks contest is a big tie!
 
Twa: 11
Dallas:  10
Dug:  11
Matt Stevens:  10
Sprague:  11
Chas:  10
Weiland:  11
Toolie:  11

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Readers Write In...
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Mike "Colonel" Kopec
 
Why I can't root for Cleveland:
 
I was reading the sports section of the newspaper
casually on Sunday morning and decided to check out
the box score of the Indians game, for one reason only
- attendance check.
 
A recap of the past before I continue:  Cleveland
liked to claim in the mid-90s that they had the #1
fans in baseball (or something along those lines). 
They even have a retired number at the Jake for the
number of consecutive sellouts during that era.
 
Well.  Since that time, they have had a VERY hard time
drawing, inexplicably at times this year considering
their squad is decent.
 
So, I figured maybe they pulled in 30K or so against
the Royals in the heart of playoff contention, maybe
even sold out the Jake.
 
17,300.
 
I kid you not.  I couldn't stop laughing.  To me, that
automatically makes Indian Fan the worst fan in
baseball, easily distancing itself from Brave fan.
 
Can you see Detroit drawing 17K in the heart of
playoff contention - and in a similar situation, with
a team that hasn't been there in a while?  Me neither.
 
Cleveland sucks.  Detroit.

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Peter "The Poet" Ciofani
 
I hope the biggest memory of 2005 will be the historic
collapse of the White Sox (Go Tribe). Otherwise I 
think it will be the unmasking ofRaffi (The truth)
Palmiero.

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Toolie's Trashtalk...
 
It was really too bad to see Trammell get the boot. 
I've expressed all these comments before, so I'll
spare you the details now.  Indian fan, you have to be
crushed.  At least you had fun.
 
Here are my top six moments of the 2005 baseball
season. 
 
6.  The launching of www.tigersweekly.com  Thanks to
    Gilbert!
	
5.  Placido Polanco's walk-off homer to beat the
    Giants.

4.  Dmitri Young's three home runs on opening day
    against the Royals.  
	
3.  Seeing the Tigers (live, with Gilbert) come from
    behind in the ninth and win in extras against
	Tampa Bay.
	
2.  The Tigers Weekly Baseball Game in July

1.  Baseball Road Trip 2005 - easily the most amazing
    trek I've ever embarked upon.  I hope to do this
    every summer and you all are advised to attempt
    something similar at some point in your lives.
    You will not regret it.  
 
That's all I have to say for 2005!  Enjoy the playoffs
and keep an ear to the hot stove in the off-season. 
We'll see if Dombrowski is planning on taking more
action than replacing the manager.  
 
Thanks for the memories!
 
I'm out...






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